In 1999, the Blair Witch project was released in theaters and immediately became a horror cult classic. It has made viewers vomit and created an urban myth that still persists.
I remember very well the first time I saw The Blair Witch Project, years after its initial release. He had to be around 16 at the time and full of that arrogant teenage confidence that teenagers tend to sink when it comes to horror movies. As if I was wrong.
Never has a scene bothered me more than when the campers with cameras entered this witch's house, with the devil's scratches and their wooden sticks.
Twenty years later, I saw this house again, but this time in the Blair Witch game. I'm the one who controls the camcorder, and that's horrible.
Where is the dog
(Image credit: Bloober Team)
I think it's worth mentioning at this point that I don't like horror games. It's not that I don't appreciate them, and as a dedicated gaming writer TechRadar, it's my duty to play every game. That said, I get the impression that if I wanted my heart to beat with all my heart, I'd rather pretend to be a defibrillator.
So when I agreed to play the next Blair Witch at Gamescom 2019, I hadn't really considered the logistics. It was only when I entered the infamous forest that the reality of the situation began. It was not going to be a leisurely walk through the woods.
Blair Witch from the Bloober Team is not an adaptation of the movie, but a game with a new story inspired by the story of the movie. You play as Ellis, a cop who (accompanied by his K9 friend Bullet) searches the woods for a missing child. But it is these woods and the witch will not make it easy for you.
The most stressful part of Blair Witch may be that it's not a fighting game. Instead, Bullet will alert you to the presence of something amiss by barking or growling. The only way to fight off the invading evil is to look at your flashlight (or the light from your camcorder). But the moment this dog barked, my stomach sank.
Although he hated Bullet's growl, it was better not to have any. On several occasions, our canine companion has disappeared, causing a high-pitched cry "Where's the dog?" to anyone in particular. There was one particular point where I was exploring caves under a tree and I suddenly had a nauseous feeling when the flashlight went off and the witch started whispering in my ear. . Maybe the growth wasn't so bad?
the house of hell
(Image credit: Blair Witch)
I played five chapters of Blair Witch during the demo, each one from a particular section of the game, but the last one is where I lost what little dignity I had: when I came home that terrified me as a teenager. The house that sees sticks etched into the walls and where baseballs randomly roll down the stairs.
I remember you at this point. Nobody fights. The bullet is gone and I am armed with a camcorder that I have to go through to find hidden features that look a lot like bloodstains. I have to cross the house, with its narrow corridors and hidden blood trails: I have to search, which means looking at the screen (something I had been lazy enough to do until Now).
At one point, an entity came out from behind a door and jumped so high that my helmet fell off and the journalist to my right fell in horror. "I just need to finish this last chapter," I whispered as I proceeded with one eye open and the other closed, my bulletproof tactic for gaming. ; terror. Or, until the German journalist to my left understands my tactics and mocks my cowardice (then he caught me in the PR... snitch).
something unpleasant
(Image credit: Bloober Team)
Blair Witch is essentially based on the same horror as the movies. Instead of focusing on visual horror and gore, the developers focus on what you don't see. Which is actually scarier.
Add to that fears, a richly detailed environment and you get a solid horror game with a niche 90s rotation. However, there are certainly aspects of Blair Witch that could be educated because sometimes the real horror was just like Bullet. I could walk in the trees...